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Don’t Catch An Emotional Virus

We are in the season of the year where viruses spread quickly. Having four children in my house is a dangerous thing when one comes home with a cold or flu virus because it passes from one to the other; unfortunately it doesn’t happen all at the same time so we end up with the virus hanging around for 4-5 weeks before it cycles out.

This caused me to think about emotional viruses that people spread quickly as well. Did you ever notice how “contagious” an attitude is in your home or place you work? Someone comes in with a negative attitude – griping and complaining about everything from politics to being cut off in traffic – and that attitude quickly spreads throughout the entire workplace. It is like a virus that weakens our productivity and quality of life; we come to the end of the day wondering why I don’t feel good about how the day unfolded. The answer is simple: you caught the virus!

You can become immune to the “attitude virus” because you have the antidote. Here are three simple things to keep you from “catching” the negativity of those around you.

Keep your mind free from the clutter of what people are complaining about. Just because they talk about it doesn’t mean you have to think about it. You have the choice every day of what you will allow your mind to think about and dwell on. When someone says something negative – just take the age old advice of “in one ear and out the other”. In other words – don’t let those words stop and dwell in between your ears!

Counteract negative attitudes with positive words. I firmly believe that: “Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21) Your words create movement in the atmosphere so use that power to move out the negative attitudes by speaking powerful and positive words into the atmosphere

Be fully aware that “you” are the only person you can control. Stop trying to change other people. There is too much stress involved in trying to control what other people do and say. The only thing you can do is let your positive influence fill the atmosphere; what others do with that is up to them. Stop stressing over changing someone else and focus on being the best “you” possible.

Three simple things to focus on to keep you immune from the “attitude virus”. Stay healthy this season – this is time that you will never be able to get back!